Being thankful used to make me cringe because I thought of it as an obligatory handwritten note or a required childhood greeting following birthdays and holidays and immediately after, “Hello.”

But as I grew older, the words, “thank you,” and “gratitude” had a lot more meaning. You could say a powerful one at that.

When I started to record what I was grateful for on any given day or send a note or even just an email to those who I was thankful for, it had a surprising effect. More than just ridding myself of childhood guilty from the expected etiquette of please and thank you, it changed the way I perceived the world and my role in it.

It meant that the difficulties in my life had a purpose. It meant the world was a lot more hopeful than it sometimes seemed. And that there were always an abundance of things to be grateful for, even on days that weren’t so easy to get through.

With Thanksgiving coming up, I hope you’ll join me in expressing thanks to those you love and for the people and things you often take for granted. I know being grateful for you (all you fabulous readers & bloggers out there!) is something that’s on my list! What’s on yours?

(An Epidemic of Addiction) – There are lots of misconceptions about the differences between dependence and addiction. The differences are clarified here as well as the impact that removing an addict’s obsession has on the person’s character.